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Picture Books with A Message

Owl Wants to Share at Moonlight School by Simon Puttock, illustrated by Ali PyeActually, there is much more to this book than a simple lesson about sharing – it’s about using your imagination, being kind to each other, and accepting difference. However it is not preachy at all. In fact I fell in love with Miss Moon, Moonlight School’s teacher, the most understanding teacher in literature since Miss Honey! Simon Puttock demonstrates his understanding of children’s behaviour within a classroom environment (even if they are animals here) with accuracy and skill, and Ali Pye’s phenomenal illustrations, capturing shadows, mannerisms, and expressions are a delight.

At drawing time, there aren’t enough night-time colours to go round, so after Cat, Mouse and Bat have helped themselves, Owl has to draw using bright daytime colours. What will he come up with, and will the other students learn about sharing in the process?

Silver glitter on the front, attention to detail inside (look for Mouse’s tail accessory and her body language as she puts her paw up), the clever use of perspective to stop the reader from seeing Owl’s picture before Owl is ready – there is so much to admire in this picture book.

The language too is pitched perfectly – “Owl looked clever and said nothing”, whilst Miss Moon is a shining example of every good primary school teacher, with positive reinforcement, classroom control, and of course giving out stickers at the end.

This is a sumptuous picture book. Recommended to all. Buy a copy here.

Owning Up

The Whopper by Rebecca AshdownPerhaps slightly less subtle, The Whopper by Rebecca Ashdown is certainly comical. Percy’s grandma comes to stay, and as a gift she gives him a hand knitted jumper. Percy hates it of course, and decides to take her words literally when she says it is “just right for walking the dog in”. When the dog ruins the jumper, Percy tosses it away, but when he lies to his Mum about what happened to it, a little creature called the Whopper appears. Before long the Whopper has taken over Percy’s life, to the extent that the only way he can get rid of it is to admit the truth. He does so, and of course, Grandma shows her acceptance of his apology with a new gift!

There are some hysterical moments in this book – from the picture accompanying his lie to the baby brother’s and Percy’s classmates reaction to the whopper, and the whopper’s ultimate defeat!

The message is how a lie, no matter how small, can loom large and take over quite quickly, and it’s drawn with some relish here. Very enjoyable as a lesson in telling the truth, but not necessarily a go-to picture book for bedtime. You can purchase it here from Waterstones.

Trying New Things

Bogtrotter by Margaret Wild, illustrated by Judith RossellBogtrotter is a simple creature. Furry green, with keen eyes, lively hair and a toothy expression, he runs day after day, year after year around the bog – hence Bogtrotter! But he’s not entirely content. When the frog asks him why he doesn’t ever do anything new or different it sets in motion alarm bells, and Bogtrotter starts to take notice of the world around him, and think of possibilities for the future.

The frog’s second question makes him think even harder, and he goes on a full adventure, with surprising results – not spelled out for the reader in text, but inferred in the picture. It’s a gem of a title, exploring what can happen if a person goes outside their own comfort zone, and takes stock of other creatures and the surrounding landscape.

The illustrations are adorable – the sort of depiction of a creature that a child wants made into a soft toy, as well as endearing human touches for animal creatures – the Bogtrotter sleeps with a mug of tea beside him and pictures on his wall (presumably of himself). Even the illustrations from behind of him ‘trotting’ are quite something to behold. A great book, with humour, insight and inference. Highly recommended. Buy here from Waterstones.

Being Brave

Brave As Can Be: A Book of Courage by Jo Witek, illustrated by Christine RousseyAnother fairly unsubtle book, but so excellently produced that you’ll think seriously about buying this and referencing it over and over. Sturdy thick cardboard pages with die cut shapes cut out lend a special element to this dynamic book.

An adorable little girl depicted in black lines with red cheeks, red bow in her hair, and red spots on her dress, takes the reader through the book in first person narrative, recalling how when she was little she had many fears. Ironic of course, as the little girl is still pretty little. Firstly she introduces her huge mountain of scary things.

Two die cut eyes in the mountain turn it into a kind of monster, but on the next page those die cut holes turn into snowflakes – showing that our fears are simple shape shifters – we can choose to see things as scary or we can choose to view them as something other than that.

The little girl then goes through her fears one by one, but instead of dismissing them, she tells the reader how she dealt with them – from using a night-light in the scary dark, to her mum’s explanation that the dog’s bark is just him saying hello. She even points out that sometimes we use being scary as a way to entertain – such as Halloween and telling spooky stories.

The illustrations are very clever – not only using the die cut shapes on each page to turn into something fresh, but also the combination of pencil lines and colourful crayons, as if the little girl had drawn the illustrations very neatly – the tangle of adult legs with scary boots on the ends is very effective when the little girl describes getting lost. (She overcomes her fear by becoming a brave explorer).

I wasn’t convinced about the ending though, which I found to be a bit of a letdown, although perhaps it is apt for the target readership. Size is said to be important here. As the little girl grows up, she realises that fewer things seem scary. As she grows as a person, her fears diminish.

Certainly the things that were scary as children no longer seem scary…it’s just that for this reader, other stuff does. You can buy a copy of the book here.